FORT WALTON BEACH — Trailing Fort Walton Beach 7-5, things looked bleak for the Crestview High School volleyball team on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs had already lost the first two sets to the Vikings and were fighting for their lives. Crestview did rally back to take the third and fourth sets. But in the end the Bulldog came short.
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach volleyball photos>>>
Fort Walton Beach held off the hard charging Crestview team to take the District 1-7A contest 3-2 by scores of 25-10, 25-21, 20-25, 19-25, 16-14.
Crestview Coach Kathy Combest saw plenty of areas where the Bulldogs need to improve, but she could find no fault with how her team fought back.
“We just have to learn to quit making crucial errors,” she said. “We have to play harder at the net and be more aggressive on offense. We’ve got to stop trying to do things we can’t do.
“They could have let down any of those games. We were two games down and had to win three games in a row. That usually doesn’t happen in volleyball.”
Fort Walton Beach broke open the first set with a 10-0 run after the teams were tied 4-4. A Kiva Malone kill started the run and with Madison Friedman serving the Vikings pulled away to the double digit lead.
The Bulldogs (4-6, 0-3) never challenged in the first set.
Crestview showed signs of life in the second set as the Bulldogs pressured the Vikings throughout the set.
Fort Walton Beach led 15-14 when a Pam George kill pulled the Bulldogs even at 15-15 and gave Crestview the serve. The Bulldogs ran off another four points with Macie Adams in serve to take a 19-15 lead.
Friedman led the Vikings back as Fort Walton Beach erased the deficit and moved in front 20-19. Kara Fisher scored twice down the stretch for the Vikings as they pulled away to take the set and were on the verge of the win. But Crestview wasn’t finished.
Rather than rolling over and going down quietly the Bulldogs came roaring back.
Kierra Potts led the charge with four of her team leading 17 kills in the set. Potts had plenty of help though as Nichole LeFevre, Molly Kitchen and Cailey Ness all made big plays in the set.
Crestview took the lead in the set at 10-9 and pulled away to take the win.
The Bulldogs tied the match with a fourth set win.
A Viking serving error to open the set gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. With LeFevre in serve Crestview scored seven more answered points.
Potts helped the effort with a kill. George added a block and LeFevre had three aces in the run.
Fort Walton Beach was able to close to the Bulldog lead to 10-8. But a pair of kills by Ness pushed the Crestview lead back to 12-8 as the Bulldogs pulled away to take the set.
The final set went back and forth. Fort Walton Beach led 11-6 when Potts sparked a final Bulldog run. Crestview was able to tie the set at 12-12, 13-13 and 14-14, but the Bulldogs were never able to wrestle the lead away from the Vikings.
Potts had eight blocks to go with her 17 kills. Ness had 11 kills and 11 blocks. LeFevre had seven kills, four aces, four blocks and four assists.
Marisa Rogers led the Bulldogs with 17 assists to go along with seven kills, three aces and two digs. Adams had 16 digs. Kitchen pitched in 15 assists, two blocks and four kills.
EmailNews Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bulldog rally falls short (PHOTOS, VIDEO)